Even Prettier Than Fireworks

It's all in how you look at the world. Infrared trees courtesy of http://surfwithberserk.com/infrared-trees

Sometimes holidays are a chance to lay back, get out of the grind, and see the world in a whole new way. To that end, here’s a link to some more marvelous pictures of trees taken with infrared film.

Don’t Miss Our Local July Fourth Parade This Sunday

Uncle Sam at 2009 Westchester Parade. (c) 2009 Richard Beban. More parade photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/mythyes/sets/

The LAX Chamber of Commerce, which includes the Friends among its members, is putting on its annual Independence Day parade this Sunday. Starts at noon, from the intersection of Loyola Blvd. and Manchester in Westchester, down Loyola Blvd. and concludes at LMU.

A Holiday Duke: The Civil War in Playa del Rey

Rancho La Ballona. Courtesy of Duke.

And as an extra holiday treat (we’ll be back Tuesday), here’s a special Duke column on his favorite holiday.

D. J. “Duke” Dukesherer is a local writer and official historian of the Ballona Blog. He is the author of Beach of the King, The Early History of Playa Del Rey, Westchester, Playa Vista, CA, and ‘Round the Clump of Willows.

Someone once said, “Most people live on the world not in it.” That may be true.

Having lived in many places, like San Juan, Puerto Rico, New York, Seattle and St. Louis, I always made it my mission to learn about where I was. Not just the points on the compass, but to learn about the history of the area, its founders and even before them; what was there before and what happened that created what was there now.

It is one of my favorite times of year again, Independence Day. We’ll enjoy parades, cook-outs and perhaps fireworks, but most of all I hope that we remember the all of the people that have died to keep this country free. The US of A is on its ear right now. The recession has hit us hard, and we remain embroiled in two protracted wars, with many of our troops in harm’s way. But I know that we will turn this country around, as we have always done, and our men and women will be home again soon, enjoying a summer barbeque with us.

Our area, formerly called Rancho La Ballona, was suffering a great deal in the 1860’s too. After the droughts of the 1860′s decimated most of the rancho’s cattle, squatters began to infest the huge land grant. During the first months of 1863, the smallpox epidemic raged all over Los Angeles, to such an extent that ninety percent of the Native Americans perished, along with many Mexicans, chiefly of the impoverished classes, who also perished before the epidemic subsided, “for want of further material to work upon.”

With the Civil War raging, July 4, 1863 was not celebrated in the city, but at the healthier environs of Camp Ballona harbor, now called Playa Del Rey, and more or less the location of Del Rey Lagoon. A few miles away, in what is now Culver City, a camp, Camp Latham, was established and in 1863 was commanded by Brigadier General George Wright. The Army patrolled the coastal area at what is now Playa Del Rey. In that year, 12 desertions occurred, as well as 3 deaths. It was believed that Confederates would launch an attack at Port Ballona, at the estuary of Ballona Creek (most of California was pro-Confederacy and a hotbed of spies from the South), so Wright commanded the largest force ever in the Far West, 6,000 troops by 1862.

The camp was named for U.S. Senator Milton Latham, who, as the sixth governor of California, had the distinction of serving only five days before resigning in January 1860 to take the seat of Sen. David Broderick, who had been killed the previous September in a pistol duel. Latham was a pro-southern Democrat, and his election to the office of governor was opposed by those who feared that he would make California a pro-slavery state. He was succeeded by Lt. Gov. John Downey (another pro-southern Democrat), who became the state’s first foreign-born governor (Ireland), and for whom the Southern California city of Downey is named.

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